leading president obama by two. . >> it looks like those numbers are acting as an incentive for both parties. with just 28 days until election day, scott joins us with more. >> you can look at the trail and say another day of campaigning and another day of virginia in the spotlight, and that is true, but there is a new level of evidence tighter. the first lady pleading with virginians tonight. >> are we going to keep this country moving forward? her husband last night said we can only win if we keep moving forward. >> a sizable eight point lead for obama in september has vanished. the race is deadlocked among registered voters and among

likely voters, a four point lead for romney. it seems romney has showed his more personal, softer side. >> the 14-year-old son had been diagnosed with leukemia. it became clear there was not going to be a cure, so i met with david, became his friend. >> this is the latest ad approved by the president himself. >> criminals gluttons of greed and the evil genius who towered over them? one man with the guts to speak his name. >> big bird. >> big bird. >> sesame workshop has now asked

that that ad be taken down since it wants to remain apolitical. about 11% more say they strongly support romney. that puts him just about even with the president's numbers. >> the presidential running mates are taking a break from the campaign trail right now so they can prepare for this week's debate. the vice presidential debate will be held thursday night in danville, ky at 9:00. you can expect will car bridge and analysis from scott and the abc 7 political team. we will take a look at the critical role virginia place in our battleground virginia special, and in-depth look at the people who make up this important swing states. that is tonight at 7:00 here on abc 7. >> elections officials are appealing a federal court ruling means -- reinstating early voting for three days

before election day. the ohio secretary of state wants the court to have the right to set up election laws. udge since jerry sandusky to prison for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60. this comes a day after we heard from victims and from sandusky himself. brad bell was in the court room and joins us from state college with more. >> jerry sandusky continues to aggressively maintain his innocence. he stood in court today and talked and talked. he talked about himself, his feelings, but only once in passing did he mention the victims he is convicted of abusing. only then to say he questions their motives. >> as sandusky was led away to begin serving his 30-60 year term, and effective life sentence for the 68-year-old

many who watched the case carefully told us that justice was finally done. >> he could have gotten a lot longer. hearing was a spectacle, like everything else about this case. witnesses said they had been ruined by the former coach's sexual of abuse. >> in my heart, i know i did not do these alleged, disgusting acts. >> sounding off like a coach giving an inspirational pep talk sandusky talked-about sandusky. only in passing did he mention his victims. >> i guess for one reason or another, jerry just does not understand or believe what he did. >> all i could think was, what i lawyer. it -- what a liar.

he is very good at it. >> i asked for handle everything and the willingness to surrender only to god, regardless of the outcome. >> tonight jerry sandusky is in the county jail here where he has been since he was convicted in june. brad bell, abc 7 news. >> a federal judge today chastised brown for failing to make weekly pretrial phone to court officials. the former chairman pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges in june and is to be sentenced in november. >> prince george's county delegate tiffany alston today pleaded guilty to misconduct charges. she was convicted in june of stealingo pay an assistant at her law firm. under a plea deal, she will be

on probation for two years and must perform 300 hours of community service. >> the road to the world series is in washington. nationals park is ready for its first time in post-season baseball. metro is adding eight more cars to and from the game to keep the fans moving. the loser will have to apply the plight of the winning city over city hall. -- fly the flag of the winning city over city hall. >> nasa is concerned over what curiosity salt. >> what inspired astor not martelly to write a book about a mouse? >> cloudy and chilly now, but

much better weather is on the way. pala howze: it just seems like such an... infringement on our lives. how dare they step into my life that way. it's none of their business. he's trying to restrict us again. he's taking us backwards. george allen is the last thing we need in washington. anncr: the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising.

>> retired after not martelly, the husband of -- retired astronauts mark kelly has written a book called mouse tronaut.

he said he is inspired to write by what he calls a crisis in education. >> we are often not in the top 50 anymore. we used to be at the top. >> there is mark kelly with former -- with his wife, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. >> an incredible look at another first on mars. the curiosity of groverrover. further scooping is on hold until they can identify an object.

>> less than 24 hours away from game 3. we'll have a breakdown of the pitching line up tomorrow. [ barack obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message. [ female announcer ] he says... president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. [ female annouer ] but this is what the budget plan mitt romney supports actually does. more huge tax breaks skewed to the wealthy. while cutting nearly eight hundred billion from medicaid... evenug though middle-class families rely on medicaid to help loved ones cover nursing-home care. and it helps parents support children with disabilities. if mitt romney really "cares," wouldn't we see it in his priorities?

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will raise taxes on the middle class? according to an independent non-partisan stud barack obama and the liberals will raise taxes on the middle class by $4,000. the sameme organization says the plan from mitt romney and common sense conservatives is "noa tax hike on the middle class." want proof? read the non-partisan study for yourself at americocan.com. obama and his liberal allies? we can't afford four more years. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

>> breaking news right now of a scare at the first lady's event in leesburg at the fairgrounds. just before 6:00, a woman at the event collapse. mrs. obama immediately called for help. there is no word right now on the woman's condition. >> for thousands of people in alexandria, one day after we investigated problems with several high-rise buildings. >> tell us what made the difference. >> a number of residents we spoke with, many of whom had to use space heaters of the last several days just to stay warm are happy that the heat is back on after 7 on your side stepped in.

>> you need people to step up to the plate and speak on behalf of others who do not have a voice. >> at about noon, the heat at the southern towers apartments in alexandria was turned back on for the winter. the temperature had dipped into the high 40's or 50's over the last several nights. the conditions were very uncomfortable here, particularly in the morning. monday night, a property manager told us due to the system's eight, the heat is turned on in the fall and kept on until the spring. there are thousands of residents, and pleasing all of them can be difficult. tuesday afternoon after the heat went on, robin was relieved.

>> hopefully everybody will be warm now. >> we should point out that facilities like this don't have to turn on the heat until october 15. >> today you did not need a lot of heat. >> we are in a pattern where we will go from chilly to normal and chilly to warmer. let's take you over to chesapeake beach in calvert county. the clouds have been coming and telling. -- coming and going. it will set the stage for beautiful weather tomorrow. 60 degrees knout in indian head, 58 in the district. not much in the way of rain, just a lot of clouds and damp

air. 64 today, seven degrees below the average high of 71. 64 right now, 55 in charleston, west virginia. back to the west that are getting some sunshine and clearing skies. these numbers right now show how much cooler is now that it was at this time yesterday afternoon. we are going to see a warmer day tomorrow. it will be a dramatic change. we just have to get this front and this system out of here. we may have a little fog overnight, and then sunshine develops tomorrow and near 70.

the front is not going to amount to much no rain expected, and it will turn cooler in the day on thursday behind the front. a pleasant friday and pleasant for the weekend. late tonight, as the cloud start to clear, we will see a little patchy fog developing. in the early morning, partly cloudy skies and it may be overcast because of the low clouds and fog. then partly cloudy and breezy and mile through the day eventually up to 70 degrees. cooler temperatures thursday and friday, partly sunny to mostly sunny and cool saturday, and a nice warm up early next week. >> now the toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealers. >> we are actually here in the

playoffs. >> a great night before a baseball game. >> all is quiet here at nationals park, but that will change tomorrow morning. a combined 10 innings in the last two games. they have the day off today as players threw the ball around a little bit. they really need to focus on the line up hitting. a bright light in a very dismal lineup but they are confident for game 3 for what will be a very tough series. >> maybe the best case scenario for us to come in here and just try to play the game and have some fun. >> we did our job on the road.

we gave ourselves a chance to come home and just when the series. if we do that, we will be in a good place. >> edwin jackson is on the hill tomorrow opposite cris carpenter. he has not exactly found his playoff form but he will face his former teammate tomorrow. >> it is all about throwing strikes and coming out and establishing your place early in the game. if you get behind the accounts of these guys and let them get comfortable, they will do what they get paid to do and they can hit the ball really well. >> the team released kicker billy cundiff today.

on third and goal, the famous image we have seen at this point. head coach mike shanahan believes griffin could be ready to go on sunday. if anything, the young quarterback learned a huge lesson. >> they slide a little bit sooner and protect themselves a little bit more. >> it is almost time for college hoops. maryland had its media day to day. the head coach has pulled in a good recruiting class for this season. the second year coach knows how

to get some top prospects out of high school. the youngs what is still growing but they are much improved this time around -- young squad is still growing. the story tomorrow will be game 3, the nationals are 1-1 with the cardinals. >> we will be watching. thank you very much.

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>> i did not mean to say that the nats game is tonight, it is tomorrow night. >> it will clear out overnight and have a little bit of fog and chilly in the morning. temperatures climb to near 70 by 3:00 in the afternoon. as we head for the next seven days, we will continue to see beautiful weather. temperatures down and then morning up a little bit. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. "i'm not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut. that's not my plan." mitchell: "the nonpartisan tax policy center concluded that mitt romney's tax plan would cost $4.8 trillion over 10 years." vo: why won't t romney level with us about his tax plan which gives the wealthy huge new tax breaks? because according to experts, he'd have to raise taxes on the middle class - or increase e the deficit to pay for it. if we can't trust him here... how could we ever trust him here?

let me tell you how i will create 12 million jobs when president obama couldn't. first my energy independence policy means more than three million new jobs. many of them in manufacturing. my tax reform plan to lower tes for the middle class and for small business creates seven million more. and expanding trade, cracking down on china and improving job training takes us to over 12 million new jobs. i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message.

pamela howze: it just seems like such an... infringement on our lives. how dare they step into my life that way. it's none of their business. he's trying to restrict us again. he's taking us backwards. george allen is the last thing we need in washington. anncr: the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising.